Autumn 2014

Global Energy Outlook: Opportunities and Challenges

Gawdat BAHGAT

In mid-November 2014 the Paris-based International Energy Agency issued its latest World Energy Outlook. The main theme of the report is that the global energy system is “in danger of failing short of the hopes and expectations placed upon it.”1 This study explores some of the main opportunities and challenges facing the global energy system. Specifically, the analysis focuses on energy security, both from consumers’ and producers’ perspectives, and the recent sharp drop in oil prices and the economic, environmental and strategic implications. The forces that have led to the recent decline in prices seem to differ from those that led to previous declines. It is likely that prices will remain low for a prolonged period of time. Major producers and consumers will have to re-adjust their economic policies and strategies to respond to these key changes in the global energy landscape.